Christian Bale Chats About His Final Batman Film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

GQ Magazine Austrailia

Christian has to be one of the most dedicated actors working in the industry. How many of his fellow thespians would have lived off of a can of tuna, or an apple a day in order to drop 63 pounds? He went from 185 lbs to 123 lbs for the 2004 movie, The Machinist.

Think about it. How many of you have even seen The Machinist? Probably not too many of you. Sure, you've seen the pictures of an emaciated Bale, that makes starving Ethopian's shudder, but I'm sure most of you haven't taken the time to see his performance. What I'm getting at is that he committed to the role even though he probably knew most people were never gonna see it. He put his body through gut wrenching agony just to bring authenticity to the role. Bravo!

It wasnt difficult playing Batman:

"You know, I wouldn't say hard because i don't like to..." He breaks off, rethinking his answer. "There's no complaints, you know? There's no whining that you'll be hearing from me because when you agree to do a job you do it. Physically, it's taxing. Man, you're in that suit and you're getting punched and you're getting thrown around but in the end, you know, it always go smoothly."

"As my costar Michael Caine says to me, never complain, never explain," he adds. Bale does a little cock of the head and flashes those teeth again. Something in the smile says, "I know that you know that I know we're not just talking about bat-suits here."

Christian Bale's take on The Dark Knight Rises:

"After battling bad guys his whole career, he's feeling the pain of his pursuits and also of the facade he has kept up," Bale says. "The only person who knows him completely is Alfred, and they were not communicating when the last one ended. For Bruce, the question will be, how long will the scarring episodes of his past control him? It's really time for him to look at himself and face the issues he's been avoiding all his life."

Last moments as Batman:

Bale says that he got to keep one cowl from each film and "treasures them. I have been deeply honored to inhabit this character." He felt real pain letting Batman go, he admits. "We had been filming for seven months. India, London, Los Angeles, Scotland, New York. We had been moving with all this momentum. It was a massive undertaking. Physically, emotionally, every way. But suddenly we were in the final throes. I sat down and asked for a little space. I stared at the cowl for a good long moment and thought, 'Man, this one really took on a life of its own.'"